Today I have two great meetings. One with Jerry Hurley. He is on the directional leadership team for lifechurch.tv and the other is with Anthony Coppedge. He wrote the ebook, twitter for churches. As I was preparing for these meetings I thought it might be helpful to pass along to you how it is I go about getting ready to meet with someone.
1. Determine what information you want to get out of the meeting BEFORE you meet.
I typically write a list of questions to ask. Sometimes I go down the list asking each question but most of the time this list of questions really just serves me as sort of a “conversation action plan.”
2. Do homework on the people you meet with.
At the risk of sounding like a stalker, I typically look up all the information I can on someone before I meet with them. This can help guide me into the information I hope to get out of the conversation. It also can serve as good small talk material. i.e. I saw you spoke at my friends church, or I read an interesting blog you wrote etc.
3. Have an action items column
Write down the take-a-ways from the meetings. These items vary from emailing their admin for an org chart to calling one of their contacts about a separate meeting
4. Process thoroughly and quickly
Within 24 hours I sit down and process all my notes while it is fresh in my mind. This involves:
-Sending a thank you email
-Follow up on the action list (most of the time adding it to my task management program)
-Organizing my notes so they are readable for others (I try to take notes that not only I can understand but also I can pass onto others)
I believe so much good information is wasted on not having a thought out process for how to have a meeting. We all learn so much everyday from the people we get to interact with. Make sure you are able to take that information and use it and pass it along.
great thoughts on having an effective meeting. do you have a list of standard questions that you ask people when you meet w/ them? keep up the great work.